The future of the European integration process is currently more uncertain than ever. The conviction that Europeans can only secure peace and prosperity for all by working together to champion human rights, democracy and the rule of law is at risk of being diminished by nationalist egoisms, irrational future fears and pessimism. This trend can only be reversed if the youth regains a positive outlook on Europe, one that sees benefits as opportunities and risks as challenges to overcome. It is necessary to be convinced that international cooperation is indispensable for problems that cannot be dealt with unilaterally. The aim of the project "Building stones of the Common European House" is to raise awareness of participating students regarding how many benefits of European cooperation they take for granted in their lives. A second goal is to convince them that these benefits are not inherent, they are in jeopardy if everyone does not actively participate in the further realization of the European idea. Participation can even be as simple as cultivating critical attitudes towards populist movements that provide simplified, egoistic pseudo-solutions for complex global problems in the socio-politic discourse. In order to believe in the European idea, young people need background knowledge and personal experiences, especially interpersonal relationships. Therefore, in addi-tion to the academic content, this program puts an em-phasis on the personal interactions during project activi-ties. There are two 12-person student groups, aged be-tween 15 and 17, from the Istituto d'lstruzione Superiore "A. Lombardi" in Airola (Italy) and the Martin-Behaim-Gymnasium Nuremberg who take part in this program. These students are from more than 30 different countries. The Italian school has an economic emphasis, while the German school is focused on scientific-technological and linguistic studies, with Italian being offered as a third for-eign language as well as an intensive Italian language course with native speakers as their teacher (“Sezione italiana”) Five weeks for student exchange are planned in a 24-month period from December 2019 to December 2021. Trips will take place twice a year, alternating between Nuremberg and Airola. Each week is structured around a specific theme (a "building stone" of the "Common European House“): 1) "Viva la musica!" The wide variety of European music 2) "Like the ancient Romans" - Europe's ancient foundation 3) "Learning from history" - What does historical responsibility mean? 4) “The way to someone’s heart is through their stomach” - European eating traditions 5) "Quo vadis, Europa?" - Simulation game, exhibition opening, closing event During the exchange, students are placed with host families and participate in everyday family life. This is done deliberately as part of the concept, which serves to expand one's own horizon and personally experience another European culture. Excursions, factory tours, workshops, lessons and a simulation game will shed light on the different dimensions of Europe (economic, historical, political, cultural, culinary). The methods that are used ensure that the students develop the contents of the program themselves and then share what they have learned with others (e.g. younger classmates) or a larger public (through presentations or exhibits). Between the weeks of exchange, the students work in smaller project groups on different group presentations. At the Martin-Behaim-Gymnasium this work takes place in the context of a P-seminar, which means it is integrated into the regular lessons. The interaction with the Italian partners takes place during these phases through eTwinning. The principle of action-oriented "learning with all senses" is pursued both through participating in project groups and preparing a presentation that will take place in the exhibition for the 2022 anniversary (30 Years of Political Union, 65 Years of the Roman Treaties). Furthermore, the students’ media literacy is fostered by the intensive use of digital and analog forms of information and communication. To culminate this exchange, a multimedia and interactive exhibition at both schools will encourage the school com-munity and a broader public to (re)-discover and think about the dimensions of the European idea. Hopefully, the metaphor to build a “Common European House” invites more generations of student to continue to champion the European idea through renovation as well as modernization, and to build expansions for a future Europe.
The future of the European integration process is currently more uncertain than ever. The conviction that Europeans can only secure peace and prosperity for all by working together to champion human rights, democracy and the rule of law is at risk of being diminished by nationalist egoisms, irrational future fears and pessimism. This trend can only be reversed if the youth regains a positive outlook on Europe, one that sees benefits as opportunities and risks as challenges to overcome. It is necessary to be convinced that international cooperation is indispensable for problems that cannot be dealt with unilaterally. The aim of the project "Building stones of the Common European House" is to raise awareness of participating students regarding how many benefits of European cooperation they take for granted in their lives. A second goal is to convince them that these benefits are not inherent, they are in jeopardy if everyone does not actively participate in the further realization of the European idea. Participation can even be as simple as cultivating critical attitudes towards populist movements that provide simplified, egoistic pseudo-solutions for complex global problems in the socio-politic discourse. In order to believe in the European idea, young people need background knowledge and personal experiences, especially interpersonal relationships. Therefore, in addition to the academic content, this program put an emphasis on the personal interactions during project activities. There were two 12/13-person student groups, aged be-tween 15 and 18, who took part in this program: One from the Istituto d'lstruzione Superiore "A. Lombardi" in Airola (Italy) and one from the Martin-Behaim-Gymnasium Nuremberg. These students are from more than 30 different countries. The Italian school has an economic emphasis, while the German school is focused on scientific-technological and linguistic studies, with Italian being offered as a third foreign language as well as an intensive Italian language course with native speakers as their teacher (“Sezione italiana”). Five weeks for student exchange planned in a 24-month period from December 2019 to December 2021, were extended to 2022 due to Corona Pandemic. Trips took place, alternating between Nuremberg and Airola, once as a virtual workshop. Each week was structured around a specific theme (a "building stone" of the "Common European House“): 1) "Viva la musica!" The wide variety of European music 2) "Like the ancient Romans" - Europe's ancient foundation 3) "Learning from history" - What does historical responsibility mean? 4) “The way to someone’s heart is through their stomach” - European eating traditions (Virtual) 5) "Quo vadis, Europa?" - Simulation game, exhibition opening, closing event During the exchange, students were placed with host families and participated in everyday family life. This was done deliberately as part of the concept, which served to expand one's own horizon and personally experience another European culture. Excursions, factory tours, workshops, lessons and a simulation game shed light on the different dimensions of Europe (economic, historical, political, cultural, culinary). The methods that were used ensured that the students developped the contents of the program themselves and then shared what they had learned with others (e.g. younger classmates) or a larger public (through presentations or exhibits). Between the weeks of exchange, the students worked in smaller project groups on different group presentations. At the Martin-Behaim-Gymnasium this work took place in the context of a P-Seminar, which means it was integrated into the regular lessons. The interaction with the Italian partners took place during these phases through eTwinning and an online platform from limtec. The principle of action-oriented "learning with all senses" was pursued both through participating in project groups and preparing a presentation that was presented in July 2022. This project fostered the students’ media literacy through the intensive use of digital and analog forms of information and communication. To culminate this exchange, a multimedia and interactive exhibition at both schools has encouraged the school communities and the broader public to (re)-discover and think about the dimensions of the European idea. Playful elements, short films, etc. will continue to be used in the classes in the future, particularly suitable, of course, for the subjects of history or social studies, but also foreign languages or Latin. And the results also provide an excellent basis for the further approved Erasmus project: "Can Europe be my home?”.